HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 4a. Citywide Single Vote Outreach and Engagement Plan Overview Item 4a
Human Relations Commission
Agenda Report
For Agenda of: 12/3/2025
Item Number: 4a
FROM: Samantha Vethavanam, DEI Administrative Specialist
Phone Number: (805) 781-7064
E-mail: svethava@slocity.org
SUBJECT: CITYWIDE SINGLE VOTE OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT PLAN
OVERVIEW
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an overview of the preliminary outreach and engagement plan on the new
Citywide Single Vote System and provide feedback as necessary.
BACKGROUND
The San Luis Obispo City Council recently agreed to a limited change to the City’s method
of electing City Councilmembers as part of a settlement agreement related to the
California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The new election method is called Citywide Single
Vote and is meant to advance fair and diverse representation in local elections.
The CVRA is a law enacted by the California State Legislature to provide minority groups
in California with a legal tool to address claims that their votes are being diluted by “at -
large” elections. “At-large” elections are those in which all members of a community vote
for all candidates for local offices and is the voting system that the City of San Luis Obispo
(City) has used for elections prior to November of 2026.
In early 2020, the City received a demand letter that asserted that the City of San Luis
Obispo’s method of conducting elections with at-large voting may violate the CVRA and
demanded that the City Council transition from at-large to district elections. In response
to that demand, the City consulted with Council in closed session, updated the City’s
previous elections data analysis (including independent demographics, vote dilution, and
racially polarized voting analyses) and began a constructive series of negotiations leading
to a settlement agreement.
The settlement agreement was to move towards a Citywide Single Vote rather than at-
large or district voting. The change in the election system was subsequently approved by
City Council to be effective for the November 2026 midterm elections. Under the Citywide
Single Vote methodology, City voters would have one fewer vote than the number of
Council seats available and the City will continue with staggered Council elections,
wherein two Council seats with four-year terms would be up for election every two years.
Under the new system, City voters will vote for only one candidate and the top two
Page 9 of 16
Item 4a
candidates receiving the most single votes would be elected to serve.
The purpose of single voting is to prevent the same majority from controlling all of the
available seats and to create opportunities for non-majority groups to build coalitions of
support to elect at least one of their preferred candidates, or at a minimum to prevent the
election of a non-preferred candidate.
With this change, the City is implementing a robust outreach and engagement plan to
ensure that voters are well-informed and fill out their ballots correctly for City Council in
the 2026 election. This item will provide an overview of the preliminary plan and receive
feedback from Human Relations Commission to ensure the City is reaching all community
members and especially our Latine population and others that are hard-to-reach.
Page 10 of 16